Hard News: #eqnz: Okay?
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Ian Dalziel, in reply to
Email
This substation was producing very unnatural noises.
Is that the substation near Paekakariki?
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Rosemary McDonald, in reply to
Email
Again...we plan. (and don't we hate doing that...but needs must.)
We generally let someone know where we will be for the night....or the week or so...if we are parking up in a remote place, or a remote place where there is the possibility of having unwanted visitors. Message is often along the lines of "If you don't hear from us by X date, our rotting, stinking corpses can be found here". Of course, they are going to suck all the fun out from that particular site as the plan is to upgrade the cellphone coverage at the Cape...so we may just get cover down at the camp.
I jest....better cellphone reception in the more remote parts of the motu makes sense. Some of these areas are on the 'must do' list for our overseas travelers. Some of the roads into these areas require driving skills beyond that of many of our younger visitors. Mistakes happen, and getting help when finding cellphone cover requires local knowledge can be problematic.
We were at that particular camp when the Te_Araroa_earthquake struck in September. It woke me up. Automatically, I put on the radio,...RNZ...and had the pleasure (under the guise of performing a public service) of going around and waking the other campers and informing them of the tsunami warning.
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Email
Whew! Thank god!!!!
It was very near the end of all things...
"It's done." "Yes, Mr Frodo, it's over now."
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izogi, in reply to
Readers of BBC News, the Melbourne Age and the Sydney Morning Herald will also be very relieved.
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The take- home from this event is slowly sinking in now that we are up and running sort of . . . viz. that had this been the big one - the 8.5 + Richter on the Alpine Fault - the country is totally unprepared, and within a week or so chaos would have ensued.
And this is from someone engaged in "sustainable " agriculture ! Ha!
Sure , we could have continued food production for a month, but after that it was going to be paleo diet for everybody.Here we have backup generation, and backup generators for the backup generators. We also have solar but that is barely useful in the Big One.
The fact is that when the diesel runs out we are down to coal while we cut down the trees and wait for them to be dry enough to burn. Then we could get maybe a year or so of continuity, if everything else was working which it would not be .
Just imagine a few hydro dams are damaged, or the Cook Strait links.
Throw in the administrative incompetence at every level . . . it's quite a disturbing picture.
Genesis Energy made it virtually impossible to report faults . . . they would not log faults. There were pole fuses and transformer fuses blown all over the Manawatu , as a result of power lines touching. The lines company could not fix them because they did not know where they were . . . it was random . . . and the customers were not permitted to tell them ... far canal :-)
We eventually crashed through the walls that Genesis had erected, and got a transformer fuse replaced (a 5 minute job) 30 hours after it blew and took out 4 ICPs, including the cowshed and the main farm water supply as well as all the comms. (which were already down because underground phone lines were ripped) and two other locations on the same transformer.
There is no fibre here , even though we are in P.N. city and internet is copper wire. If the cell phone towers had generators but diesel was unavailable, then we were down to our two -way handsets for as long as we could recharge batteries. After that shouting would be necessary.
Not even worth thinking about the cities.
The country definitely dodged a bullet this time . Next time . . . ? -
william blake, in reply to
From generation zero to generation backup.
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Ian Dalziel, in reply to
Email
The take- home from this event is slowly sinking in now that we are up and running sort of . . . viz. that had this been the big one – the 8.5 + Richter on the Alpine Fault – the country is totally unprepared, and within a week or so chaos would have ensued.
.... Here we have backup generation, and backup generators for the backup generators. We also have solar but that is barely useful in the Big One.As these ‘off the grid’ eco- tourist lodge owners have found, preparation is only part of the equation…
OFF THE GRID – LITERALLY
Niky McArthur was on the verge of tears as she talked about the state of her ecotourism business, Kaikoura Wilderness, which is located in a remote valley north of Kaikoura.
“I always thought that whatever was happening in the world we’d be self sufficient up there,” she said.
Monday morning’s earthquake had crippled the “off the grid” Puhi Puhi Rd business, which offered accommodation and guided walks.
Battery banks powering the lodge were destroyed, gas bottles tipped over and water tanks cracked.
The road to the site was impassable and likely would be for many months.
“I’m not sure if I’m going to cry or not. I’m quite shell-shocked. We won’t be able to run a business for [at least] six months. It’s going to have a devastating effect.”(my bolding)
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Rosemary McDonald, in reply to
Email
Throw in the administrative incompetence at every level . . . it’s quite a disturbing picture.
The cynic in me thinks that perhaps this is part of the Plan.
We are being taught not to rely on The Administration to provide support.
We are being 'encouraged' (read forced) to stand on our own individual or collective feet.
Its all about 'building resilience', a term that pops up in many forums these days.
This might be a good Plan....community level post disaster actions are often very good....until, of course, The Administration steps in, takes control, fails to respect the locals, stuffs up, and ultimately magnifies the stress and frustration.
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Farmer Green, in reply to
.community level post disaster actions
That was funny but absolutely true. Most will not have received this "news" :-
PEL (that is your Countdown supermarket)
"An update on our current closures is below. The biggest impact for you however is likely to be that our Palmerston North Distribution Centre will be closed for much of this week, with orders being diverted to our Auckland distribution centres. We are doing everything we can to get stock to affected parts of the country, including from our Distribution Centre in Christchurch. There may be some delays, but at the moment we are able to get deliveries into all affected areas. We will continue to update our customers and teams."Centralisation . . of almost anything . . . is a disaster.
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Farmer Green, in reply to
We are being taught not to rely on The Administration to provide support.
I found that it was quite empowering to be informed by the Genesis faultline operator that the reason that they didn't want to hear about our fault was that we were not a priority.
I thanked her for her honesty (I hope that she wasn't being monitored) and for the clarity, and got on with the job.I mean , who needs food anyway?
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Compass, who truck frozen meals, and meal components to Dunedin from Auckland, to supply the hospital meals, and meals on wheels, tell us it's all under control. Until last year, meals were prepared in the hospital kitchen. Does something sound out of whack?
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Farmer Green, in reply to
with orders being diverted to our Auckland distribution centres
Yep , ship the yoghurt from P.N. to Auckland , so that it can be "distributed" to P.N.
Makes sense to me.
Luckily we here at Biofarm are prohibited from using the P.N. warehouse, because we are so norty . . . -
Ian Dalziel, in reply to
Email
wipe out?
I mean , who needs food anyway?
Not to mention toilet paper, now most folk get their news online, there'll be no stack of old newspapers. or old sewing patterns for that matter, to repurpose for loo paper... books it is then...
:- ) -
Ian Dalziel, in reply to
Email
Compass, who truck frozen meals, and meal components to Dunedin from Auckland, to supply the hospital meals, and meals on wheels
That was always a bad idea on so many levels.
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And a Good morning from TOLL Freight Forwarding (backwarding , surely)
"Good morning
The flooding disrupted our plans for our truck, we were booked for the 8pm ferry sailing, but due to the flooding was unable to get to Wellington. He continued as the roads cleared & was rebooked on the 4am sailing.
This freight will be in Christchurch & available for delivery tomorrow. "
I have no idea whether or not the ECOFARM milk made it to CHCH this week.
Anyone know? -
Farmer Green, in reply to
I always liked that doggerel on the back of the dunny in Herries Park in Te Aroha.
“If no paper
Do not linger
Robinson Crusoe
Used his finger."It’s a bastard when there’s no water.
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Important Post Earthquake Update from Big Chill Distribution
Dear Valued Customer,
As a result of the traumatic events in the Upper South Island and Wellington this week, you will be aware that the transport infrastructure within New Zealand has been severely damaged. Unfortunately it will continue to be impaired well into 2017.
Eat Local folks :-)
You don't want to hear about the Earthquake surcharge , on top of the Fuel surcharge (which ALWAYS applies).
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In Destiny Church news, Brian Tamaki blames the earthquakes on gays, sinners, and murderers. I guess they must have all jumped up and down at the same time. Whoever would have known that Kaikoura was such a hotbed of murderous, homosexual imperfection.
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Rosemary McDonald, in reply to
Email
Whoever would have known that Kaikoura was such a hotbed of murderous, homosexual imperfection.
The Bishop digs even deeper....
And other ‘extra sexual behaviour’.
(Confused, and concerned at getting behind the times vernacularly, I foolishly asked Mr. Google for a definition of the term ’extra sexual. Oops!)
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Email Web
Surely 'extra sexual behavior' is everything but sex .... and in particular religion ...
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Sacha, in reply to
Shagging is our patriotic duty to prevent further quakes.
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nzlemming, in reply to
Email Twitter
And other ‘extra sexual behaviour’.
FTA
He said it was important for people to remember this was God's view, not his.
Bwahahaha!
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mark taslov, in reply to
The blind leading the blind -
Hebe,
It’s sure a relief to find PAS descending into silliness. I feel anything but silly. Going out and getting prepared – again. Amazing how much crap the 25-litre water container tap collects in three years, how the food expires and the chocolate is eaten, the batteries are borrowed, and where the hell did most of the torches go?
This series of earthquakes, and the alarming GNS forecast yesterday, has demolished any lurking idea I had that the earthquakes may have quieted for Christchurch and surrounds. The country is in a time of stronger seismic activity than has been the case for many human-scale years, and we must learn to live with it, or leave.
It feels like another loss of innocence, and while I am so thankful that St Martins wasn’t literally at the centre of it this time, I also hurt badly for those living through the hammering and constant aftershocks: survivor’s guilt.
It is also strange being able to watch it all unfold on the internet and on television – in 2011 we had little idea of what was happening 15 minutes away in town because our internet, power and water was down for what seemed like a long time. We were focused on survival and caring for our near-teen children. Now we watch live; and sons are about to start their final NCEA exams. Their teenage years lived out in a quaked city: I am deeply sorrowful about that, more than almost anything else.
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Rosemary McDonald, in reply to
Email
We are also getting a bit of earthquake action here in Wellington.
And Katherine Ryan spent the first part of her session this morning asking the Mayor if a more precautionary approach should have been taken over allowing free access to the CBD, and speaking with David Hopkins and Paul Campbell, actual experts, about a star rating system for buildings.
The impression I got from the Mayor was a reluctance for the Authorities (central and local) to take responsibility for issuing 'safe or unsafe to enter' notices. "Ask your boss or your landlord."
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